


Instinctively

by ziraseal



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doesn't follow Turf Wars timeline, F/F, Friends With Benefits, Post Book 4, Post Finale, Smut, also not canon to the comics coming out soon, because reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-20 23:14:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17031771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziraseal/pseuds/ziraseal
Summary: What if they had not taken that vacation to the Spirit World? What if it takes them a little longer to fall in love?





	Instinctively

Instinctively, she pulls Korra close to her and inhales.

 

Breathes something that smells like Earth Kingdom spices and Air Nation tea and dirt and sweat and just the tiniest hint of blood.

 

Korra is startled for a moment, afore wrapping her arms around Asami… they sink into each other.

 

It feels the same kind of safety as a ship finally pulling into harbor after months of horrid storms and she can’t quite put her finger on why this feels so right.

 

Then, as though the moment has been pierced, Bolin engulfs them in a hug. Mako joins. Opal follows. Within seconds all of them are packaged in something so safe and warm.

 

The air feels heavy with a spiritual energy but Asami does not stop breathing in Korra.

 

They all disperse as the Earth Empire soldiers gradually slink out from the mech units. None of them look like villains― and between Equalists and Dark Spirits and Red Lotus assassins, Asami knows how villains ought to appear. In fact, most of them look weathered but lost, as though they thought they were doing the right thing but they chose the wrong person to stand behind. Asami pities them as the various members of the Earth Empire’s army lay down any and all weaponry.

 

Though it is obvious that literally everyone in the city is recovering from this spectacular and terrifying wave of explosive energy that has rocked every building to its core, the United Forces begins to march in and restore order.

 

She realizes that she’s been holding Korra’s hand as the Krew watches all of this unfolds, and escapes the warm grasp.

 

It startles her how compelled she feels, drawn in, to continue holding Korra’s hand. Asami attributes it to the knowledge that Korra has been alone for three years and likely needs to make up for lost human contact.

 

But it’s not her place to invade.

 

Asami feels twenty-two and fleeting as she climbs up the spirit vines with the rest of her friends (family after all they’ve been through), and closes a chapter of her life.

 

 

Sometime after the battle for the city, Korra removes her shirt to reveal deep gashes and cuts to the audience of an empty room. It’s really the bruises that she rolls her eyes the most at— she’s had worse. One is growing particularly purple in a spot on her hip where she tumbled against the concrete like a stone down a hill. She’s had worse— it’s a mindset that keeps her going right now. The Red Lotus gave Korra her rock bottom, and now she addresses every problem as a mere rung in her ladder as an Avatar.

 

These bruises will fade, in time.

 

Pema had left the room just before Korra had come in, she can tell because her thick winter coat is neatly folded and resting on the twin sized bed. And… Pema has left a few things for Korra to take a hot bath. Sometimes mothers, no matter if they are related by blood, simply know what a child needs.

 

And Korra knows now, no matter how mature she has become, that she was also far too young to be dealing with many of these issues. Truly a child against the world.

 

Her respect for Aang grows every day.

 

Korra gently sits down on the bed as she reaches up to her torso and carefully begins unwrapping the binding on her chest. It’s a slow process, and if she were younger and of a brasher sort she might tear it all off. Now she’s too numb and tired to want to speed the process. The pad of her thumb untucks the end of the cloth sticking to her skin from sweat and the bindings fall to the floor. She stands and slowly removes the pelts at her waist, carefully putting them somewhere peaceful instead of tossing them on the floor like the rest. They are almost the token that reminds her of home, were home not the island she currently stood on. But they were a gift from her mother and father, and so she treats them with a kindness.

 

Korra can’t believe it. It being the bath in front of her. She tugs and tugs until her boots finally give way (wincing at the smell) as steam begins to fog up the mirror. She knows the water won’t stay hot forev― Korra chuckles.

 

After two years of barely being able to bend she’d developed the mindset of not trying to use bending for every little thing. Having all that time to stare at her bedroom ceiling and reflect made her realize how wasteful she had been with her abilities; though perhaps a less drastic way of putting it would be that she had simply taken her whole life for granted. As a result she occasionally forgets that she can, in fact, use bending for every little thing. She moves her fingers just so and the water heats up a tad, but she lights the candle on the sink with a match. It’s good to think about how Nonbenders live and solve problems.

 

She sits in the tub and cries.

 

Spirits, it’s been a long day. And on top of that, someone had made a passing remark that a wedding will be held in a week. For a guy she doesn’t even like. But in all the harshness, squaring off against armies of faceless men, at least there’s some true love going around.

 

Korra doesn’t want to think about that right now. Yet she still cries.

 

But it’s good to get it out.

 

Even though crying stems from pain, she’s still so happy that she’s alive. That her close friends and family are alive. She mourns for all of the deaths― and she knows there is one death that will be mourned by a lone soul tonight.

 

A moment of reflection, and she leans against the back of the tub. Korra knows that it really isn’t her place to honor a man who tried to kill her, but goodness knows there won’t be many others who would be there for Asam―

 

Her crying has wilted, and instead she’s curled up in the tub, hugging the warmth to herself― which should be utterly surprising considering that she normally does not get cold.

 

She breathes.

 

She runs her fingers through her hair.

 

She smiles and thinks.

 

Korra isn’t sure what her next step is regarding Asami.

 

A part of her knows that they are… almost beginning to grow something together, if a plant were a metaphor for a connection. And Korra knows that this friendship, too, may suffer if she does not give it care.

 

If she does not give it love.

 

And it’s difficult to admit that it is a fondness, because she realized how she felt in the darkest moments of her life, and thinking of the letters Asami sent only prompts her to think of her former situation and the pain she was in.

 

But then she closes her eyes and thinks further back, wondering if she felt drawn Asami before that time. Even before Asami cared for Korra while the poor girl was stuck in the wheelchair.                                                                                                                              

 

She thinks to a time when they were chasing across the world after a newfound enigma, laughing over tossing Mako in the air and kicking bandit butt in small villages.

 

She thinks about the sandsailer.

 

 

_“So… you’re taking seismic sense lessons from Lin?” the executive asked, tying the bandage holding her hair back tighter as she pilots the makeshift vehicle._

 

_Korra rolls her eyes, “Is now really the time to talk about my bending practice? We just crashed an airship from the Earth Kingdom army, we’re in the middle of the Si Wong with no idea where to head next, and there are terrorists trying to hunt down Team Avatar to… to do something to me!”_

 

_Asami winces, and keeps her eyes on the sprawling horizon of sand._

 

_After a moment, the Avatar slows her bending so that she can soften her voice._

 

_The Earth Kingdom officers who had captured the girls (and were now working together with them) were fast asleep, but this didn’t seem like a conversation she was ready to share. She carefully makes her way to the deck of the sandsailer, bending from a distance._

 

_“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped like that.”_

 

_Asami smiled with a softness that Korra had never seen in the girl before, and said, “It’s alright. We’re stressed beyond imagination. This is stuff that kids shouldn’t have to deal with.”_

 

_“We’re not kids,” Korra scoffs._

 

_The engineer only gave her a look of sympathy before shrugging and returning to her piloting._

 

_Korra berated herself again for her tone. Everyday she had to remind herself that there was no guiding point for a rivalry between the two women― neither one is chasing Mako._

 

_Korra even struggles to find something to dislike about Asami that she would have a few months ago._

 

_Prissy? Hardly, given the way Asami constantly asks people how they’re doing and is mindful of everyone’s feelings._

 

_Elegant? Well yes, but not in the sense that Asami stood around drinking expensive sake in a silk dress. More like elegant in the sense that she would carefully weave through a workshop and pluck a tool off the wall without running into a single hazard. Not that Asami had hazards in her workshops._

 

_Not that Korra paid much attention when she visited Asami’s workshop. She had just been delivering a dinner invitation. That one time._

 

_Rich? Yes, Asami was rich, Korra couldn’t deny that. But Asami wasn’t as keen to swim in the luxuries as her father had. More than once Asami would show up for dinner on Air Temple Island with dark circles under her eyes from sleeping on a half-inflated mattress in her office. She would often buy a large order of Narook’s and bring it to probending matches for the Krew despite the fact that it was lower class food._

 

_Korra feels horrible about the way she’s been thinking of Asami. She looks Asami in the eyes, taking in one of the only sources of green in the entire desert. An oasis._

 

_“Thank you for building the sandsailer. It’s a clever feat of engineering.”_

 

_Asami’s cheeks turn a different color, though Korra doesn’t immediately notice, and she glances away as a smile threatens to play at her lips._

 

_She shifts the tiller so that they smoothly ride over another dune and checked the strange device she’d also fashioned earlier that night. Some trinket that always pointed towards the north, no matter where you were facing._

 

_“It’s almost dawn. Want to wake up one of the soldiers and catch some sleep for yourself? I’m sure any one of them can sandbend.”_

 

_Korra wistfully thinks of sleep for a few seconds, then shakes her head. She doesn’t want Asami to be alone._

 

_“I can make it to Misty Palms, and then I’ll sleep… I’ll sleep when… when we find someplace safe…”_

 

_Asami gives Korra a sad look, “We will be safe in Zaofu, now that Aiwei has been found.”_

 

_“I hope so. I really could use a day to calm down.”_

 

_“If someone wants to hurt you, Korra, they’re going to have to go through me first.”_

 

_The Avatar can’t help the giggle that escapes her lips, and feels bad for it, until she notices Asami cracking a smile. Then, the both of them are doubling over in laughter that resonates across the desert._

 

_The captain of the Earth Army crew rouses from his sleep and grumbles something about “teenage girls” before taking a shift of bending the sandsailer across the desert._

 

 

There’s a knock at the bathroom door. Korra opens her eyes (after her brain stubbornly pleads for her to keep them shut out of exhaustion) and lets the visitor outside know that it’s okay to come in. Hell, even if it were Raiko walking in on her like this, she doesn’t care anymore.

 

She’s so tired after one of the longest days of fighting she’s ever experienced that she merely wishes for peace.

 

“Pardon me,” Senna smiles as she leans against the doorframe. “I don’t know if you could tell, given the state you’re in, but I could sense that broken rib from across the island.”

 

Korra lets out a laugh, “No wonder the walk back was difficult.”

 

“Do you want to help or can you handle it?”

 

Though she’s already spent enough time crying, another tear manages to escape from the corner of her eye. Korra quickly dips her hair into the tub to hide it, but she knows Senna can sense that she’s upset. She gives her mother a smile.

 

“If you’re not busy in a bit, sure. I’m just going to be alone for a little while longer, okay?”

 

Her mother crosses the bathroom and presses a kiss to her forehead. Before Senna can leave, Korra sits up suddenly in the tub and causes water to slosh onto the floor.

 

“What is it, honey? Is everything alright?” Senna asks.

 

Korra takes a deep breath and glances up, “Can you check on Asami while I finish up? Make sure she’s doing okay?”

 

The Avatar is rewarded with a knowing smile.

 

“Of course.”

 

Korra feels twenty-one and tossed around, but she’s not broken yet; and once she’s rested up the world is going to have to deal with her once more.

 

 

Her eyes drift open for a moment, and then close. She knows she needs to wake up soon but her heart’s not in it today. Raiko has been running her around all month to bolster the health of Republic City, and even though she knows he’s doing it for his own image, she has genuinely been putting all of her effort into the well-being of the citizens.

 

The air smells like breakfast, like steamed vegetables and rice and tea― like sea prunes and noodles cooked in the style of the water tribe, too. Something wafts through the walls of Fire Nation spices and there’s even a hint of cooked roots from the plants that grow in the Earth Kingdom. It’s a joy, living with Airbenders who come from all cultures.

 

But the sheets are so warm. She promises herself five more minutes and closes her eyes.

 

Three hours later, Tenzin is calmly knocking on her door, letting her know that the Airbenders are going to practice a specific kick and that he was wondering if Korra could demonstrate it. Her eyelids resist but she eventually forces them open with a groggy frown―  Tenzin could have picked any of his own damn children to teach the move but he clearly wanted to make sure she got up today. It’s not her fault a splinter of the Red Monsoons robbed a grocery store last night at an unforgiving hour in the morning.

 

She dresses, accepts a biscuit from a knowing, smiling Pema, and spends thirty seconds demonstrating the air kick before her eyes begin to droop again. Jinora smacks her while her father isn’t looking and receives a glare from the Avatar.

 

“If I had my way,” Korra sighs, “There would be more than one Avatar. There should be one per day of the week.”

 

“Sort of like a part-time job?”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“Some people can work full-time without breaking a sweat. If you were half as organized as Asami, every problem in the world would be solved like that!” Jinora says, emphasizing the “that” with a snap of her fingers.

 

Merely rolling her eyes, Korra returns to adjusting postures and aiding air disciples with their balance.

 

It is roughly four in the afternoon when the class disperses. Though she usually doesn’t sweat unless she’s fighting, Korra can feel her hair stick to her forehead and the back of her neck. She borrows a hair tie from Ikki and restrains what she can (it’s not much). Then, her eyes tiredly trail across the Air Temple until they fall on the gazebo.

 

All that time, while she was training monks in the unforgiving summer heat, her friends had been sitting in the shade playing pai sho. Korra makes one of her classic pouts before joining them.

 

“You could have waved.”

 

Bolin’s face, as per always, lights up with joy, “Korra! I finally beat Asami! I’m going to get a photo of this board!”

 

“I guess I was a little distracted,” the executive sighs, afore grinning at the Avatar.

 

She takes a seat on the railing beside Mako as they reset the game. Honestly, there wasn’t a better place to spend the afternoon, catching up with the Krew as they watched Asami and Bolin go toe to toe. After match seven, though, Korra couldn’t help it, and at one point she shifted one of the tiles with her foot using a pinch of Airbending.

 

“Hey! Are you playing favorites?!” Bolin shrieked.

 

Korra threw her hands up, “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about!”

 

They cause mischief around the island for the rest of the day, exploring the beaches and waking up White Lotus Guards that have fallen asleep in the heat like cats. They could leave and go into the city, but that seems like it would be so much more stressful. Here on the island, it feels pure and unsoiled.

 

Like nothing can go wrong.

 

Eventually, Mako and Bolin have to go home. They both need to attend to their grandmother, who gets fussy when they don’t show up for dinner at the Sato Estate. Asami, however, accepts Tenzin’s offer to stay the night on the island. They sit together on the window sill in one of the guest bedrooms, enjoying the fresh air and the sounds of Meelo and Rohan running up and down the halls.

 

Something hangs between them, and Korra is afraid to admit that it feels like a lifeline.

 

“A stiff monk bed over your luxurious king?” Korra scoffs, teasingly and with no bite to her words.

 

The sunset begins to paint a purple and an orange and even a hint of green above the water. Korra holds out her hand to shield her eyes but the beautiful drops of light slither through her fingers.

 

Asami smiles, “I’ve spent a lot of nights here. After you went to the South, and with Mako watching over Wu and Bolin with Kuvira’s troops, it was nice to go to the one place that still felt like Team Avatar. I’m used to the mattresses, and if we’re being honest, they’re a little nicer on my back than the one at home.”

 

“It must have been lonely. I’m s― “

 

“Don’t apologize, Korra. You’ve already done it fifty times and it was forgiven the first time. No, it isn’t even something that needs forgiving! You had no choice. The fact that your here now means everything to me. And to Bolin and Mako.”

 

She shuts up, and the both of them watch the sun drift down and sink into the ocean.

 

The universe gently drifts around them and between them and something draws Korra to Asami. She can’t quite place it.

 

Had this always been there? Was it something that developed while Korra was gone?

 

She knew nothing about magnetism but there was no other word to describe this force she could feel tugging in her stomach when she looked at Asami.

 

And of course Korra was a little wiser and stronger after all this time and she knew what sexual attraction was but a hesitation remained in her lungs that there might be more to it than that.

 

Magnetism.

 

At one point Asami’s leg starts nervously bouncing, and Korra can’t help it. She reaches over and grips her friend’s knee and laughs a little.

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Asami sighs. “I’m sorry, I just got caught up thinking about everything I have to do tomorrow. There’s this prototype we’re testing and I have to be there at nine in the morning. I may just have breakfast in the car.”

 

Her hand was still on the engineer’s knee.

 

“Have you been taking any time for yourself? I mean, besides hanging out with us today?”

 

She shakes her head, “No, with the city in a state like this we’re getting orders left and right. I’m grateful for my assistants and interns, they’ve really stepped up. A lot of former Varrick Global employees have migrated over to us, too. But it’s still so tiring.”

 

“I’m sure you’ve heard it from literally everyone in the city,” Korra says as she gently moves her hand away, “but maybe you need something with which to destress. Or someone.”

 

A laugh.

 

“I haven’t even touched that side of my life since Mako. I mean, a fling here and there with an executive on a business trip. But my options have been sorely lacking in the pleasure department.”

 

“Same here. There was a really nice farm girl in the Earth Kingdom that I liked, but I was so broken and bruised and seeing things that weren’t there that I didn’t stay for long. I think she understood. It’s not really a life meant for dating― not when you run around all the time. This time tomorrow I might have to be headed towards the Northern Water Tribe to settle one of my cousin’s conflicts and I wouldn’t even get to say goodbye to a partner. It’s not exactly a great foundation for romance.”

 

Asami nodded, “I felt so horrible when I was distant to Kotori because I had to spend the weekends working. And she would always complain that I was choosing the company over her.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Oh… there was a girl I went to school with, almost half a decade ago, and we tried dating. But it was barely real and a total mess―  you know how it is when you’re dating someone in school.”

 

“I don’t.”

 

Asami cleared her throat, “Ah. Right. Well, she wasn’t happy that I spent the free time we had from class working on projects my Dad would send me.”

 

“Maybe, and this is just a theory,” Korra smiled, “but maybe the problem wasn’t Mako all along. Maybe the two of us are just really horrible at dating!”

 

Then both of them are laughing, laughing so hard that the windowsill shakes a little.

 

Magnetism has reared its head once more, something catching in Korra’s throat as she studies the ivory hands mere inches away from her own.

 

The sun is long gone by now, though the sky is still bright with color. A few of the acolytes bring out lanterns to light up the courtyard and suddenly the island is dotted with flickering flames. The visible change causes them to slowly calm down from their jest.

 

“So what you’re saying is you just want someone who you can occasionally sleep with but don’t need to take time out of your crazy work schedule to go on dates with,” Korra grins.

 

“That sounds so insensitive. I don’t know, I don’t want to take strangers home from bars. That’s just a recipe for trouble. To say nothing of what the press would say.”

 

“No, I get it completely.”

 

Asami raises an eyebrow, “Do you?”

 

“Yeah. I didn’t have time for Mako and it showed. I don’t want to hurt someone like that. But I can’t just ignore my duties for someone I’ve been on three dates with― that’s not the way the Avatar should act. That being said, I don’t know who I can trust who won’t go around telling everyone they can that they’re sleeping with the Avatar. Not with the enemies I have.”

 

“Sex isn’t everything.”

 

“No, it’s not,” she agrees. “To be honest I’m just making a big deal out of it because I need a break. It’s just stress.”

 

There is a silence, as they hop down from the windowsill and close the shutters. It’s night during the summertime, meaning that it’s painfully late and they really need to get some sleep.

 

Just as Korra’s hand reaches the doorknob, however, fingers fall onto her shoulder. There’s a tremble to the grip, and it might as well be an _earthquake_.

 

“Wait.”

 

“You okay?” Korra asks, turning to see Asami standing there, slightly biting her lip.

 

Asami is looking at her like she still can’t believe she’s back after all this time, and she looks so fucking hungry and it stirs something inside Korra. Asami gives off this aura of danger, like she will get what she wants, no matter what.

 

And Korra doesn't want to stop her, by any means. She can’t _bear_ to stop her. Not when this is something she wants just as much, if not more.

 

“I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”

 

“Do what?” she asks.

 

As if she doesn’t already know the answer just before it happens.

 

The atmosphere changes and clicks between them― both women are moving together and suddenly Asami has the Avatar pressed up against the door. Their lips are inches away from each other. Korra can smell a little bit of engine grease and perfume and Asami’s breath is tangling with her own.

 

She’s never wanted anything like she desperately craves this. How can a single touch feel like medicine on a wound?

 

Korra can’t find the courage to whisper to Asami that no one’s ever felt like this.

 

It takes her a moment to realize her hands are on the engineer’s waist, and it takes her just a second longer to process that she’s pulling Asami towards her. Even if she weren’t a Waterbender she would be able to hear both their heartbeats against the silence of the island, but her abilities amplify it into a kind of **thunder**.

 

Asami doesn’t say anything and Korra almost doesn’t want her to. Instead a lipstick lined mouth takes in a breath for courage and lowers to her neck.

 

She lightly bites down and drags her teeth across skin, and Korra suddenly can’t form a single thought.

 

It’s so much better than anyone she’s ever been with and she wonders if it’s because Asami knows her. She gets what Korra needs and wants and within seconds they are moving towards the bed. Furs fall to the ground, a Future Industries jacket flies onto the chair opposite the room. Asami’s legs straddle either side of her and a primal force inside her wants to pull this woman even closer to her.

 

So she does.

 

Their hips grind together and Korra lets out a moan.

 

“You need to be quiet,” Asami warns.

 

“Or?”

 

“Or I’ll make you be quiet.”

 

Korra can’t help the grin that flashes across her face, and just as she’s about to come up with a retort Asami cleverly cuts her off.

 

She’s never been kissed so hard and it’s never been as _hot_ and _filthy_ as this.

 

None of this makes any of her problems go away but it’s all so distracting that the only thing Korra can think to do is get the rest of their clothes off. It doesn’t help that Asami lowers her mouth once more to the base of the Avatar’s neck.

 

“Asami.”

 

A force inside her wants her to claim Asami’s lips again, to do nothing but whisper language-less words into the engineer’s mouth.

 

It worries her. There’s an unspoken treaty that this is just sex. Korra wants this, with absolute certainty, but she also wants so much more.

 

Fingers play across her stomach and lightly trace the muscles there as Asami’s mouth lowers to one breast. Korra’s eyes can only stare at the ceiling as a tongue swirls around and the hint of teeth graze her nipple. Asami’s other hand pushes down Korra’s hips, effectively pinning her.

 

“Spirits.”

 

“Shhh,” Asami smiles against her chest and kisses her way to the other breast.

 

It’s been almost a year since someone’s touched her like this so she welcomes it gratefully but the fact that she’s known Asami for so long and seen her at her most vulnerable makes this seem _dirty_.

 

Has Asami felt this attraction to her for the same amount of time that she’s felt this way towards Asami?

 

No, she can’t think this. The entire conversation they’d just had― though it’s fleeing from her memory as her mind is now desperate to record every detail about Asami’s mouth― a truth rang from their previous words. This would be simple and easy if Korra didn’t throw fucking feelings into the mix.

 

Their clothes are long gone. The feeling of Asami’s body pressing against her own is indescribable. She’s never felt herself tangle with a texture so soft and slightly cold despite the summer heat.

 

It’s as though Asami is made of silk.

 

A mouth hungrily trails down her stomach and towards her hips and Korra’s finger can’t help themselves as they clutch Asami’s soft black hair. When she feels the texture of a tongue gently touch her where she hasn’t been touched in months, her thighs shake. Her hips push up to meet Asami and she closes her eyes.

 

She **burns**.

 

Perhaps Asami can read her mind, because she lets all restraint go the second she tastes Korra. Surprisingly, there’s so much skill in the act that Korra wonders how many other girls Asami has done this with― and yet every stroke and smile against her feels unique and right and done just for her.

 

When Asami slips two fingers inside her, Korra’s eyes shoot open bright white and somewhere far beyond the world they live in.

 

Her mouth opens but no sound comes out and even in the bliss she still clutches Asami’s hair like it’s the only thing that will keep her from floating into space.

 

She flies.

 

It’s as though time is slowing and she can barely register Asami continuing to thrust inside her as she comes and it feels so fucking heavenly.

 

Clearly, nothing stops the other woman.

 

No experience has ever felt so sublime as this, even though this is _new_ and _raw_ and _unspoken_ , Korra knows that nothing will ever come close to competing with the way Asami’s mouth and fingers feel on her body.

 

It’s a shame, really.

 

But she already knew no one could compete with Asami Sato.

 

Maybe it takes days for her to return to reality, maybe only a few moments, but when she does her first realization is that Asami’s lips are back on her neck.

 

When they kiss, Korra tastes herself on Asami’s tongue and she receives a moan in exchange. Her strength feels as though it could crumble and she grips the engineer’s arm to steady herself.

 

Panting and trying to find some moment to hone in on, it’s difficult for Korra to form a single thought.

 

“That was…”

 

It earns her a grin from Asami, who pulls the blanket over Korra’s naked, prone body before slipping out of the bed. Korra doesn’t have time to object before exhaustion takes over, and she floats away with a smile.

 

 

“How do you plan to deal with this?” Raiko calmly asked.

 

Korra frowned, but didn’t dare lose her temper. She would not be the person she was three years ago.

 

“If you would kindly make sure that your citizens did not enter the portals and provoke the inhabitants of the Spirit World, perhaps they would not cause storms that harm humans. Can’t you make up laws that say people need to stay a certain distance away unless they get a permit or something?” Korra asks.

 

Raiko fiddles with his cup of tea before opening his mouth to retaliate. She beats him to the punch―

 

“We elected you to this position to serve this city. I am happy to fulfill my duties as a settler of conflicts but it is your responsibility to prevent them in the first place. Good day, sir.”

 

She really loves the shocked face he makes as she picks up her glider staff and marches out of his office. It puts her in such a good mood and she feels like nothing can go wrong.

 

 

Asami struggles with the equation on the chalkboard and finally relents. She wanders over to the pitcher of water that makes its home nearby, avoiding the lemons as she pours herself a glass. This issue with Satomobile steering has been plaguing her all week and she really needs to fix it or they won’t be able to move forward with the new models. She’s not the only one working on this equation, of course, it was just that the rest of her engineers went to lunch and she has chosen to stay behind. Her stomach growls but she absolutely needs to solve this―

 

The large bird-like shape on one of her window sills catches her eye. She gasps and rushes towards her electric shock-glove just as the shape speaks up.

 

“Hey! Asami! It’s me!”

 

She barely makes out Korra beneath the silhouette of the glider, the sun harshly invading into the office behind the Avatar.

 

“Oh! Korra!” Asami smiles, relieved. “I didn’t realize that was― you nearly got yourself electrocuted, you know that?”

 

Korra slowly folds up her glider with a bright smile and wide eyes, presenting what Asami quickly recognizes to be a take-out box from one of the more popular local street vendors. The office, big as it is, quickly fills up with the smell of chicken and pork and vegetables that have been cooked just the way Asami likes them. Her stomach growls and her willpower quickly crumbles as she snatches the bag away from a laughing Korra like a common thief.

 

“I had a hunch that you were missing out on one of the most important meals of the day.”

 

“Is that so?” Asami smiles, “Awfully convenient of you.”

 

Korra shrugs, “Or I was leaving Raiko’s office and two of your assistants passed by, mentioning to me that you are, yet again, stuck up here while letting them roam the city all care-free and with full bellies.”

 

“And here I thought you could read minds and predict the future,” Asami teases playfully.

 

The events of that night hang between them, despite their banter. It may as well be an alarm.

 

“So… um… how is it going?”

 

Asami sighs. She doesn't know how to do this. One moment Korra was her best friend and now… well she still is but now they’ve instigated something and Asami doesn’t know how in the world to address it. It’s her fault really, but she couldn’t let Korra walk away that night. Somehow she knew that Korra had not wanted to walk away.

 

She bites her lip and sets down her food, “Korra.”

 

“What? Is everything alright?”

 

“Korra…. I’m sorry about the other night. I feel like I pushed you into something and I never even got a confirmation from you that it was okay, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you―”

 

The Avatar walks closer and shakes her head, “No, it’s alright. It was definitely something I wanted. I would have told you otherwise.”

 

“Just… that conversation we had, where you suggested that I find someone I occasionally sleep with, without worrying about feelings and emotions and complications… the only person I could think of in that moment who could provide that was you. I’m sorry. I should have at least talked to you about it.”

 

“That’s… that’s not a bad idea.”

 

“What?”

 

Korra grins, “Well, I don’t mind continuing that, and we both are in a situation where dating is too tricky to do. We could just… have an _arrangement_. You know?”

 

Actually Korra, this is a very bad idea, Asami thinks. So many things can go wrong.

 

“Sure,” she nods.

 

“Wait, you’re actually agreeing to this?”

 

“I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t want to have sex with you. And… you’re someone who I trust immensely. Hell, the press considers us best friends, they would never suspect a thing!” Asami points out. “This is a win-win for both of us.”

 

Nothing happens. Korra bites her lip a little as she processes it and Asami drinks the rest of her water. The silence worries her as to whether her argument is enough to agree to this lunacy. Is she enough for Korra?

 

“Ok. Well… how do you want to do this?”

 

It spurns a laugh within Asami, “We’ll figure something out. This should be casual, Korra. We’re not going to stop being friends, we might just occasionally spend the night together. I’ll figure out a way to contact you and for you to contact me so that we can match up schedules. The whole point of this is―”

 

“Ms. Sato! Your workers are back! Shall I see them in?” her receptionist calls from the intercom.

 

“Saved by the bell,” Asami sighs. “You’d better go, but I’ll see you again soon.”

 

“I sure hope so. I’m interested in a repeat performance.”

 

Korra can definitely see the blush that creeps onto Asami’s cheeks, she’s certain of it. She picks one of the lemons out of the water pitcher and throws it with perfect aim at Korra’s face as the Avatar chuckles and hops out the window sill. Asami watches her fly away and refuses to address the fluttering somewhere in her chest.

 

 

Thank the spirits the band music of the bar is loud. The patrons louder still. Asami almost screams into Korra’s mouth as fingers push and pull, deeper and swifter inside her― and it feels fucking fantastic. The counter beneath her doesn’t shake, and for that she’s grateful.

 

“Fuck, Korra!”

 

A mouth meets hers and she closes her eyes, drinking in the taste of the Avatar as another finger is added inside her.

 

“Tell me what you want,” Korra asks, as their mouths separate.

 

She doesn’t know if she has the strength to answer that as three fingers fill her and all she can to is bury her neck into Korra’s shoulder with a whimper. The cacophony of the bar does not cease but all that matters is the woman holding her in this bathroom― it’s good that it’s loud and dark out there, for Mako and Bolin might start looking for them if it were obvious that they were missing.

 

It was supposed to have been been a friend’s night out but Korra had looked so tantalizing in her royal blue winter coat and Asami had wanted to know what that would look like when it fell to the floor.

 

When she’d unbuttoned it after locking Korra in the bathroom, she’d been surprised to learn that Korra wasn’t wearing anything else underneath. A shame, really, because it meant that the engineer could rake her nails down that pretty, muscular back as Korra thrusted her fingers in and out.

 

Fingers curl up just enough and Asami feels like a glass jar shattering against the floor, as though she has been made into a million different pieces by Korra’s unskilled but firm touch. She lets out a loud moan for half a moment before her mouth is captured again. The taste of alcohol mingles between their tongues. She lets her nails scratch between Korra’s shoulder blades one last time because she needs something to hold onto, earning her a groan.

 

This feels so complete and intriguing and she doesn’t know why they hadn’t explored this sooner.

 

It takes her a while to come down from her orgasm, as Korra kisses her over and over with a wicked grin.

 

“It’s a shame we’ve run out of time.”

 

“We’ve been in here a while,” Asami struggles to say as she catches her breath. Her lips graze Korra’s neck just for a moment before the Avatar slowly backs away to put her coat back on.

 

“I hope no one spots those marks in the morning.”

 

Korra shrugs, “Can always blame it on a fight. I’ll see you around.”

 

A quick grin and those blue eyes slip away, leaving Asami absolutely _breathless_.

 

 

“This is interesting. Why are you showing us?”

 

“I figured that, as we’re entering an age where spirits are living in balance with humans, it might not be a bad idea to take some precautions. If Unulaq is capable of turning spirits bad, who's to say others won’t learn?” Asami smiles sadly.

 

Korra nods, and shows the device to Mako, “So someone who isn’t a waterbender could trap a spirit in here long enough to get help.”

 

“Exactly. It uses a slight amount of spirit vine energy but not enough to throw anything out of balance like Kuvira had been doing.”

 

Mako hands the device back to her with a grin, “You’re a genius! Asami Sato is back at it again!”

 

The engineer can’t help but feel a little proud of herself as the Krew envelops her in a hug and offers to take her to lunch to celebrate. Asami places the prototype on the filing cabinet in her office and rushes to join her friends.

 

Korra gives her a long look throughout lunch, and it causes Asami to forget all about her little invention.

 

The Avatar has that effect on her.

 

 

“Maybe if you donated this territory here as a peace offering, the Gan Jin would be willing to share some of their coastline in return?” Korra offers with a tired sigh.

 

The Zhang representative folds his arms and makes a face, “Those prissy Gan Jin would destroy the waterfront with expensive high rise apartments and amusement parks and who knows what else!”

 

“Okay, hang on, let’s not get back into throwing insults around. This is a diplomatic gathering, we’re going to act like diplomats!”

 

“Yes, we must have some manners, though it is expected of a Zhang to spoil a party,” the Gan Jin ambassador smirks.  

 

Korra folds up the map and politely asks the meeting to be put on hold for the day. She would have to try tomorrow― though thankfully there was no war looming on the horizon. A mere boundary disagreement between two settlements had caused her to fly out to a remote part of the Earth Kingdom with Opal and Kai (who were of no help, entertaining the village crowds with Airbending tricks on top of Juicy). She was tired and she just wants to head back to the farm whose owners had offered the use of their barn as shelter for the week. In exchange for a little bit of field work, of course.

 

Halfway through the town, a young girl tugs on her sleeve.

 

“Ms. Avatar? I have a package for you! From… Future Industries?”

 

Korra stops in her tracks and raises an eyebrow, bemused, “Oh really? That’s strange, I hadn’t told anyone that I was here.”

 

She accepts the parcel and, after an outstretched hand demands a little bit of coin in return, opens it in the middle of the road. Enclosed is a small wristwatch and a letter― prompting a great deal of confusion from Korra. She continues back towards the farm, discarding the packaging and unsealing the envelope.

 

_Korra,_

 

_This should be able to withstand fire, air, water, and earth, but I’m not sure about lava. I didn’t ask Bolin to help me test it because then he’d ask questions and that would open up a whole new can of elbow leeches._

 

_I thought I’d make us something that could help with our arrangement (Kai, if you’re reading this, you should stop going through Korra’s things and I won’t tell Jinora about the warehouse incident)._

 

_See how there are two halves to the face of this watch? One side is mine and one is yours. You can make yours turn blue to signify if you’re in Republic City and available for the evening, red for if you’re out of town, or yellow for if you’re in Republic City but not free to meet up! It should be set to red right now on your side and yellow on mine. I figured this would lessen the chance of someone overhearing us talking about this like it’s some sort of affair― could you imagine??_

 

_Oh, and it also tells time!_

 

_Have a good day!_

_Asami_

 

The Avatar’s face lights up as she tries the various options. Her side of the watch transforms from red to yellow to blue and she almost lets out a scream when Asami’s side begins lighting up as well. Her best friend is a genius, this is a marvel of technology! To be able to communicate with someone across the country with a device as small as an eye is something else! Both sides eventually return to their original colors as Korra stops fiddling with the watch, and she practically bounces all the way back to the farm like a giddy fool.

 

 

It works perfectly for a while. It really does. Every reunion between them outside of their friend group and gatherings on Air Temple Island does nothing but spark this flame that causes them to moan and gasp throughout the night. Neither of them has ever known someone to bring them this kind of sheer satisfaction, and as of six months into this arrangement they’ve yet to have any sort of argument or awkward interaction.

 

Korra and Asami love it.

 

Korra and Asami _hate_ it.

 

Neither of them can pinpoint when it begins hurting. Not like that, no, not in a physical meaning. They would never do that to each other.

 

But… beds are coldest when one wakes alone, expecting another.  

 

Maybe the problem begins when Asami reaches towards the phone to invite Korra out to Kwong’s on a date, they way she used to with Mako. She has just realized she has the rest of the day off and her stomach is growling and Korra’s side of the watch is blue tonight, too. Her fingers rest on the receiver for a good fifteen minutes before she snaps out of the debate inside her heart and heads home.

 

Maybe the problem begins when Korra says something rather snippy towards Jinora who remarks that Korra was always this way when she was dating Mako, and that if she wants to accommodate dating into her Avatar schedule, she should talk to Tenzin. Because, after all, Jinora smiles at her, she’s older now and she can make better choices― so Tenzin’s more likely to give her a little time each week to see the person she’s with. Korra shoos her friend away but lets out a groan of frustration and firebends her newspaper. Was it that obvious she’d been thinking about Asami that Jinora could spot it so quickly?

 

Or maybe the problem begins when Korra accidentally brushes her lips against Asami’s just after they’d spent a few hours together. Neither of them said anything the next time they got together, but both women can’t help but wonder if maybe that was where the problem began.

 

Maybe it was doomed from the start.

 

 

There aren’t a lot of things more enticing than the taste and warmth of Korra’s tongue mixing with her own. She almost forgets to breathe as teeth graze her bottom lip, biting down just a tad and tugging back.

 

A pair of watches lie forgotten on the nightstand, both a brilliant blue tonight. It has almost been a month since their last… encounter? Appointment? No, that doesn’t feel like the right word. Escapade, maybe.  

 

The strap-on toy gently brushes against Korra’s stomach and she lets out a gasp.

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah,” the Avatar chuckles, kissing Asami’s neck, “It’s just a strange texture.”

 

“Well it’s not meant to go there.”

 

While Korra has been on one of her trips, this time to the location that formerly hosted the Northern Air Temple, Asami has taken an afternoon off to slip into a disguise and make a purchase at one of Republic City’s seedier establishments. That purchase is now strapped to her hips and making both of them nervous but excited.

 

“Lie down,” Asami whispers.

 

Korra seems frozen in her arms, her eyes slightly distant even though they are locked with Asami’s.

 

“Hey, you okay? We don’t have to… I don’t know what I was thinking,” the engineer nervously chuckles.

 

She untangles from the muscular arms holding her and, embarrassed, gets out of the bed. To think that she was going to try something she’d read in a romance novel― how stupid!

 

“Hey, where are you going?”

 

Asami starts unfastening the the straps, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. There was nothing wrong with the way we’d been doing things. I… well...”

 

Korra shakes her head.

 

“It’s okay. I want to try it, I really do. You don’t need to apologize, but… maybe just… go slow?”

 

Their eyes meet, and a change begins to occur, though neither woman will admit it. What had started out as hot and passionate has suddenly cooled to warm and slow. It worries Asami that in this moment they have suddenly presented an unfamiliar vulnerability and trust to each other, and that that is far more attractive than anything that has been shared between them thus far.   

 

She pulls the piece of leather back into place and walks towards the bed.

 

“You sure I don’t look ridiculous?” Asami asks with a shy smile.

 

“Appetizing. Maybe a little intimidating. But not ridiculous, no,” Korra answers.

 

She feels her heart shake with the honesty of those words.

 

Her fingers gently trace Korra’s stomach for what seems like an eternity before they lower between her legs. Both women are uncharacteristically silent right now, their breathing shallow and full of anticipation.

 

Korra is absolutely soaking, and it sends a twinge straight to Asami’s core. This is for _her_.

 

Neither of them say anything, they’re too afraid of ruining this moment with words that are empty. Not in this brief, rule-breaking moment where intimacy hangs in the air.

 

She pushes her fingers in and Korra’s mouth falls open but she doesn’t dare make a noise.

 

It’s the most beautiful sight Asami has ever seen. Her fingers lightly, lazily thrust inside of her companion but not enough to bring Korra over the edge. She wants to torture her just a little, just enough to make this moment perfect.  

 

Which is saying something, considering every moment she’s spent with the Avatar since the battle of Republic City has redefined her understanding of perfection.

 

Her fingers pull back, and she tugs Korra’s thighs just so to line herself up.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“If you don’t do this I will be extremely disappointed,” Korra whimpers, her eyes shut. “You can’t work a girl up like this and leave her, Sato.”

 

Asami is taken by surprised at how smoothly the toy slips inside her companion. Korra’s hips buck up and she lets out a moan so erotic and harmonious.

 

She can tell, just from sight alone, that this feels like unbridled _bliss_ to the girl beneath her.

 

A moment passes. Her heartbeat skips.

 

Asami snaps her hips forwards in a sudden, inexperienced movement, and Korra’s eyes flash white.

 

“Oh fuck,” Korra whimpers, as Asami gently lowers her torso and continues.

 

“That good?”

 

“Spirits, it’s so… don’t stop!”

 

Her hips grind against Korra as the she can just barely see it sliding in and out below her. Her eyes trail up to meet the Avatar’s and she surges forward with a kiss. Legs wrap around her hips for a better angle and she can’t help the burning inside of her that drives her to push _harder_ and _deeper_ but **slow**. Achingly slow.

 

She wants to draw out something so powerful and primal from within Korra. She wants to see a side of Korra that no one else will ever get to see.      

 

“What does it feel like?”

 

Korra struggles to come up with words as Asami slows her rhythm but lowers her body weight just barely on top of the younger woman, worshipping the muscle running between the Avatar’s neck and her shoulder with a gentle kiss.

 

“You feel so good inside me,” Korra whispers.

 

The rain outside her bedroom lightly patters against the glass of the window, and a distant tree rustles with the warning of a storm. Asami hugs the warmth of the body beneath her own and lets out a sigh of content.

 

When Korra does hit her climax, it’s _slow_ and _lazy_ and _relaxing_.

 

Mouths meet in a dance of a kiss, and once again she’s reminded of her fondness for the younger woman’s tongue. Her hips give a few final thrusts just for good measure before she gently pulls the toy out and undoes the straps of the harness. Korra lies on the bed with such a blissful, inviting smile that it would be a shame to kick her out now.

 

So she doesn’t.

 

Asami pulls Korra close to her and shivers just a tad. She feels the comforter wrap around the both of them and kisses the soft, warm skin her mouth is closest to.

 

Her heart breaks when she realizes that, for the first time, Korra is still there in the morning.

 

 

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

Korra watches as her best friend runs her fingers through her raven black hair with a shaky sigh.

 

“This just isn’t going to work, we should stop this now before it gets out of hand,” Asami continues.

 

What had gone wrong? She had been so careful to not show any emotion. There was the occasional slip up but she always uses instincts and reflexes as an excuse― and it always seemed like Asami has bought it.

 

She’d rather be in this arrangement and hiding her true feelings than pinning from across the courtyard like she had been before she was poisoned.

 

But she’d rather be pining than for Asami to _hate_ her because this arrangement didn’t work.

 

“Please, just tell me where I went wrong. If nothing else.”

 

“You didn’t do anything wro― I’m sorry, really. This whole thing was so that we could both have someone to spend time with to destress, and if anything I’m taking more time out of my schedule to rendezvous. I just… I need to focus on work. This was great while it lasted, Korra, it really was, but I can’t anymore.”

 

As a result of her Avatar training, Korra has had to learn all the little tricks to spotting a lie. And she’s developed quite the perception for it over the years.

 

This is the first time Asami has ever lied to her. But she knows not to press.

 

“Okay. I’m sorry that it didn’t work out.”

 

Just before she turns to leave, she takes a deep breath and unfastens the wristwatch, leaving it on Asami’s desk. The engineer’s mouth drops open ever so slightly and her eyes flash with a pain but Korra has no use for the device, and holding onto it would seem worse, somehow.

 

“I’ll see you around, I guess,” the Avatar smiles.

 

It’s hollow and empty and Korra doesn’t hate Asami by any means but this feels worse than three years worth of mercury poisoning.

 

 

 

Bolin’s voice is timid and quiet when he finally corners her and asks what she’s been dreading.

 

“Is Team Avatar, you know, cool?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

He doesn’t accept her deflection, his eyes bore into hers with a wisdom that she really needs to expect by now. He’s not the sixteen year old with the imagination and expressive attitude that kept the group positive and upbeat; or rather, Bolin retains those qualities but after all they have been through he has developed a serious side. Asami doesn’t really know how to confront it.

 

“You and Korra have been super icy lately. I mean, so icy that we could slip around. So icy that Mako has to bring out the finger guns and bend some flames for safety! What is your deal?”

 

Asami shakes her head to avoid eye contact, “We just had a disagreement about something, that’s all. It will blow over in a few weeks.”

 

Her heart aches to continue burying all of this under dishonesty. Especially now that she’s lying to her other friends. But how does she explain to Bolin and Mako and the others that she can’t talk to Korra because every time she looks at her she’s reminded that she failed and that she wasted her only chance?

 

“I don’t want you to feel like you can’t come to me with something,” the Earthbender presses. “You have literally been helping my grandmother and the rest of my family for three years. I owe you something, and if I can do anything to help you, you can always count on me.”

 

Asami nods, “I know.”

 

She’s engulfed in a classic “Bolin hug”, and a few tears fall down her face as she struggles to find the words to say. The last thing her friend will do is judge her and yet a hesitancy flails around inside her. If she says nothing, people might assume there’s a feud between the two women― which couldn’t be further from the truth.

 

“I think… I guess it started when she left. No, no, it was before that. There was this, um, this moment before Jinora’s ceremony,” Asami begins, taking a deep breath. "When I was taking care of her."

 

Bolin doesn’t interrupt her the entire time she talks. He just waits and patiently listens.

 

 

“So… regrets?”

 

“We’re just going to dive into it?” Kuvira mumbles, moving a pai sho tile.

 

Korra hugs her coat to herself, trying to stay warm in the freezing cell. Lately and lately she’s been noticing when the environment around her is lacking in heat and a prison made of ice and platinum is no exception.

 

“I wonder if you could dig your way out of here,” Korra observes.

 

“Don’t say― why would you say that? They monitor our conversations.”

 

“Yeah, but I’m not exactly the prime suspect for people who they think might break you out.”

The former dictator halfheartedly moves another tile, followed by Korra’s turn where she captures six different pieces.

 

“Bataar Jr.”

 

“You think he would bust you out?”

 

“Not that. You asked if I had regrets,” Kuvira sighed, her eyes glued to the board, “I regret trying to kill him because he happened to be with you. And I wish I had been honest about my feelings towards him.”

 

“Did you actually love him?”

 

“No.”

 

Korra makes a “hmph” noise, taking in a deep breath to maintain her projection before narrowing her eyes at a nosy-looking White Lotus guard. He marches away from the cell but she knows that Kuvira may very well be right about the conversation monitoring. Outside the platinum room, the sounds of shifting ice shelves creaks and groans the entire prison complex.  

 

“That’s a shame. He wasn’t that bad when I first met him, before the Red Lotus fiasco. Just hung around his dad all the time.”

 

“I suppose I regret that as well. Using someone’s insecurities to your advantage is a dirty tactic. Maybe if I had fought this war more honorably I’d at least be at peace in this cell.”

 

“Dunno how you convinced him that you were in love with him with that attitude.”

 

Kuvira loses the game and resets the tiles. Her cup of tea remains untouched and cooling to a disgusting temperature. Were that Korra had physically traveled to the prison, she would gladly heat it for the Metalbender.

 

“I guess you have to know really what love is and how it works, else all relationships develop a similar structure to the one between Bataar and I. It was just numb sex and empty promises.”

 

That catches Korra a little off guard, and she has to remind herself that what she had with Asami was anything but numb. Still, it sounds so awfully similar to the premise of the arrangement that she struggles to come up with a counterpoint.

 

“Even the smartest, most empathetic people can have relationships that fail.”

 

“Smart, empathetic people understand how to mend things.”

 

“Doubt it,” Korra smiles sadly.

 

Kuvira eyes her warily, “You’re bringing balance to the world with a broken heart?”

 

“Maybe, but I’m not going to talk about my personal life and deepest secrets with a dictator who almost sliced my head off. Who is still very much alive and could break out someday.”

 

“Fair enough,” Kuvira says, raising her cup of tea in a mock salute.

 

The White Lotus guard narrows his eyes and Korra gets the hint that it may be time to go. She stands up and gives Kuvira a formal bow, earning her no response other than a hint of a nod.

 

“Good luck with your romance problem,” the dictator mumbles, leaning back in the wooden chair.

 

“I will make sure they send you some blankets or something, it just looks sad in here,” Korra grins, ignoring Kuvira’s words.

 

She lets her spirit return to her body the way Jinora had taught her, ending the projection within the cell. Her back is slightly stiff and she knows she’s done the move wrong again but Jinora isn’t here to chide her on ruining the unique form of Airbending that the teenager invented. She’s not sure what to do for the rest of the day and decides to wander the Air Temple for someone much wiser than her to talk to.

 

 

Asami gently takes one step after another up the entrance to the mansion. The whole place feels a little too big for one person, Mako’s family having left a few months ago, and when she opens the door she feels a gust of air sweep over her. It’s a little too cold for her liking. Something’s wrong.

 

“Korra?” she calls out.

 

She feels a little silly. Why would Korra be here? Korra has been staying on Air Temple Island for the past few months.

 

The entire mansion is dark, but not because of a lack of lights. There’s something else making the place feel like a void. She remembers how it felt when she first saw a dark spirit, and this feels like the same sensation. Though Asami is not the most spiritual person, she recognizes that something is out of balance.

 

Her foot shifts into a stance, not akin to the years of martial arts she’d studied but from the years of watching bending.

 

“Hello?”

 

The executive walks from room to room, but she cannot find the source of the darkness, the cold that permeates the walls and floors. Her staff have already left for the night, and she worries that she might need to grab her glove from her handbag before discovering what’s wrong with the Sato Estate. Not a single sound exists in the moment except for her breath.

 

What makes things stranger is that Asami almost doesn't want to turn the lights back on. Something holds her back. She slips her shoes off and sets her coat on a chair. She lowers her defenses, despite the mysterious presence in the estate.

 

A presence she’s encountered before. Of course, how come she didn’t recognize **it**?

 

Asami knows now that calling out for anyone would be useless, she won’t get an answer in return. Instead, she peeks into each room for the strange blue glow she’s only seen a few times.

 

She thought she might encounter it (she can’t ever think of the state as a person, no matter who it is attached to) near the pool. For some reason, she figured the body of water would feel most natural for it.

 

But the door to her workshop is ajar instead. Asami pushes into the one room of the estate she can truly consider her own and finds the blue glow she’s been looking for. Korra is seated cross legged on a clear space of the floor, her fists pressed together. Like it usually does in the avatar state, her face looks stern and determined. Her hair is a little wispy, though no signs of struggle exist to the environment around her. She’s wearing her usual outfit, and there are no rips or tears in the fabric.

 

So why does Asami sense danger?

 

The executive has kept it a secret for years now, but she hates it when she’s useless in a situation like this. It happens all too often where spiritual matters are to be dealt with and she has to sit back and let the events unfold. At least in physical fights she can deal with enemies just as skillfully as the brothers or even Korra, but there’s always something that she’s not equipped to deal with.

 

“Korra? Are you alright?”

 

It’s pointless. The Avatar state renders her best friend responseless to anything that isn’t a danger, as far as Asami knows. But she still wants to let Korra know of her presence. She takes Korra’s hand and covers it with her own.

 

“I hope you’re okay. If possible… send me some kind of sign if you’re in danger. I suppose I could… well… I can at least get Jinora.”

 

Korra’s fists, pressed together, are cold. Alive, but cold. Asami wishes, just for a fleeting moment, that she could firebend and warm the workshop up just a tad. The thought dissipates quickly. Instead, she walks over to the cot where she occasionally sleeps in between tinkering sessions and fetches a heavy blanket (a gift from Tenzin). She tosses it around Korra’s shoulders and gently touches her cheek.

 

A touch so soft that she wonders if Korra was even a solid entity.

 

She doesn’t close the door behind her as she makes her way towards the kitchen. Asami knows that Korra will be fine, but she still needs a cup of tea to calm her nerves. While the kettle is heating, she calls Air Temple Island.

 

“Who dares contact our glorious and powerful army?!”

 

“Hey Meelo,” Asami says nonchalantly, “can you put Jinora on the line?”

 

She hears, “What is the password?! Only the worthy may― _ow, ow, ow_!”  and then a faint “ _You are not allowed to answer the phone for a week, Meelo!_ ” followed by an exasperated sigh.

 

“Good evening Jinora, is now an okay time?”

 

There’s a rustling, a slam of a door, and the plop of a body in a chair.

 

“Hello, Asami, sorry about that. What can I help you with?”

 

The engineer takes a deep breath through her nose and rubs her brow, “I, um, came home from work today and found Korra in my workshop stuck in the Avatar State. I don’t know what to do.”

 

Jinora pauses for a long while and then she hears the click of a ballpoint pen through the speaker of the phone. Asami deduces this as the emotion of intrigue and the human need to interact with an object while it thinks. She pours two cups of warm, inviting Jasmine tea from the kettle and places them on a serving tray.

 

“I haven’t heard any news of something going wrong in the Spirit World, or even much conflict in the mortal world. And she’s just sitting in the Avatar State, without bending? Hmm… strange. The Avatar State is a defense mechanism, of course, so she would be responding to a threat. There’s no other reason to use it— no, she did use it a few times when we were racing on air scooters. But other than that it’s just for serious, adult stuff. I wouldn’t move her or anything, we can just wait it out for now. If there’s any indication that she’s in physical danger, let me know and I’ll send Kya over.”

 

Thanks Jinora, Asami thinks sarcastically. Instead she bids the teenager goodnight and brings the tea into the workshop.

 

“I brought you some tea, in case you’re… well… I don’t know, I just thought you might like some,” Asami sighs.

 

She sits down to the person she cares most about in this world she would follow to the end and back, and takes a sip from her cup. It’s companion sits undisturbed, and the silence fills the room to its brim. Asami feels uncomfortable. The glowing eyes don’t help, they feel alienating and give off the illusion that Korra is a statue.

 

There’s a horrid temptation within her, a need to shake Korra out of the meditation so that she can have her back. But what if she interrupts something, or hurts Korra? Asami’s afraid to even move the Avatar’s hands to hold them.

 

She drinks the other cup of tea, so that it doesn’t go to waste, and stands. The workshop is a mess, she doesn’t know why Korra would meditate in here instead of the living room or study (or any one of the many, many rooms in the Sato Estate). Asami begins to tidy and minds the woman sitting in the center of the room as she puts tools away and shelves projects for later. She sweeps. She moves furniture around. She glances at the clock.

 

It’s very late, but she doesn’t want Korra to be alone when she comes out of the Avatar State, so Asami takes the cot and uses her jacket as a blanket. It’s not the worst way to fall asleep that she’s experienced, and she’s so tired from a long day of work that as soon as she closes her eyes the peace falls upon her.

 

When she wakes, after a dreamless night, she feels a pang of disappointment to see Korra still sitting there in the Avatar State. She groggily rises out of the cot, kisses the immobile bender on the forehead, and strips her dirty clothes off down to her underwear.

 

“I will be back in a little while,” she whispers, heading out of the cold workshop.

 

Asami truly doesn’t know what to do next… a fearful concept.

   

 

 

 

Future Industries wouldn’t need her for the rest of the week, although the members of her board worded it in a more elegant manner than that. She gratefully accepted the time off, rushing back to the manor to find none other than Kya cross-legged in the workshop and observing Korra in her strange state.

 

“Door was unlocked,” the waterbender murmured, barely even registering the non-bender’s presence.

 

“What do you think is wrong with her?”

 

“Hmm… can’t say. But we may want to make sure she’s guarded. If this is spiritual in nature they might attack her in the physical realm. If she provokes a fight.”

 

“Korra? Provoking a fight?” Asami jokes, trying to ease the tension. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

Kya rests a hand on her shoulder, “I’m going to check the Air Temple libraries for any information on what this might be. My brother might have some clues but I don’t want him to fuss over her, so… I won’t tell anyone where Korra is unless you are okay with them coming to your place.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“It is strange, though, that she chose to meditate here of all places. Just, you know, curious.”

 

Asami knows a challenge when she sees one, and meets Kya’s wise blue eyes, “I don’t know why she chose this place.”

 

“It’s common practice to meditate where you feel safest.”

 

“What’s not to like about Air Temple Island?”

 

Kya smiles, “She told me about the two of you. For the record, I don’t think it’s too late.”

 

“I, um, well… it wouldn’t work,” Asami chuckles, trying to ignore the way her eyes stung.

 

She can’t help but stare at the woman sitting patiently on the floor. Kya walks up and rests a gentle, almost healing hand on her shoulder.

 

“The Avatar finds a way. And… being an adult means that you sometimes need to spend a lot of time apart from the person you love. If Korra didn’t stop being your friend just because she was gone all that time after she was poisoned, why would her having to fulfill her duties be any different when you two love each other?

 

“And you can’t just hide behind your work. Asami, you are so much more than your father’s company, your connection to him won’t suffer if you ask some people to help you manage Future Industries.”

 

“Work was the only thing I ever had in common with him,” the engineer sighed, “I got him back and then I lost him.”

 

Kya looks a little younger in the light, or perhaps Asami is feeling years beyond her age. A squeeze on her shoulder forces her to make eye contact.

 

“Sometimes it felt like my father and I barely knew each other. Thousands of miles apart in the same room, as they say. When he died I threw myself into taking care of my mother because I was so worried that it was what he had expected of me. It took a long time to realize that he only ever expected me to live a happy life, same as with my brothers.”

 

Asami nods, still a little lost in thought. Kya takes that as her cue to leave and leaves with a last, long look at Korra’s still form.

 

She sits down.

 

She waits.

 

But nothing happens.

 

After the nights they had spent together, it seems silly to be afraid to touch her, but Asami decides to challenge her fears. Maybe, somehow, Korra could hear her― wherever it was that Korra went when the Avatar took over her body.

 

She cradles a face between her hands and finds words finally pouring out of her heart.

 

“I’m so sorry. I should have told you the moment you came back from recovering, in that restaurant. You’d never looked more beautiful. I’ve written so many letters that I didn’t manage to send… a good chunk of them are about how scared I was that you wouldn’t come back. And then when I finally had you back… I worried that you would leave me again. I’d just lost my father and I couldn’t bear to admit that I was in love with someone who lived a dangerous life. But… I am.”

 

There is no indication from the statue whose hand she holds that the world has changed.  

 

“I love you Korra. And if―  when I get you out of this, I’m going to say it again. It’s okay if you’re angry at me, if you don’t want to be together. I don’t blame you. I just need you to know.”

 

Nothing changes. There are no beautiful tendrils of golden energy or spirits suddenly bursting into the workshop to announce that Asami has saved the day. Just a cold darkness and one woman holding another.

 

Asami stands and walks out of the workshop to the kitchen. She knows that she can’t fix this problem on an empty stomach.

 

 

The idea hits her in the middle of the night, jumping out of her cot and pulling Korra’s cold hands towards her.

 

“I know what to do. I’m going to get you out of there. But I’ll need to pack.”

 

She leans forward, without hesitation, and presses a long kiss to Korra’s lips. This isn’t right, Korra is not hers, and might never be. One last moment to remember― no matter what happens.

 

“See you on the other side, I hope.”

 

The prototype she had shown Team Avatar all those months ago is still sitting on the filing cabinet. She desperately hopes it works.

 

Asami doesn’t know what to expect, because she’s the only member of the team who hasn’t been there. She packs a little of everything and throws the blanket back over Korra, leaving a work light on just in case. She’s a Sato, dammit, she can do this.

 

The staff in the manor are warned that the Avatar is present in the workshop but not to be disturbed unless she calls for help. It leaves a look of confusion on her butler’s face, but he shrugs it off to inform Asami that he will be attending the Earth Kingdom family if Miss Sato has no further need of him.

 

“I may not be back for a few days, water the plants in my office, please,” she smiles, afore grabbing the keys to her moped.

 

Republic City is, despite months and months of construction, still covered in vines here and there. Every so often she turns down a street that is completely overgrown. It gets worse the closer she drives to the portal but she persists. It makes her feel a little ambitious and reckless and energetic― who she had been when she’d met Korra all those years ago.

 

She has to continue on foot to the center of the portal, the land here choked with spirit vines. It’s familiar territory but Asami hasn’t gone near this place in months. This is close to where her father died. But it’s also where Korra changed the world; she chooses to focus on the positive.

 

“Alright. Just the Spirit World. How hard can it be?”

 

It wouldn’t have done her any good to meditate in. Aside from it possibly taking her days to learn how to do, Asami prefers the comfort of being able to knock heads together if she has to. Not to say that she doesn’t respect the Spirits but after all this time she is cautious.

 

The climb to the portal is bright and almost a little blinding. It’s strange to go in this alone, she always pictured herself coming through with the group, or even just Korra.

 

Nothing is pleasant about the way a sheet of rain violently hits her in the face as she lands in a field of ruined flowers. The world around her is violently tearing itself apart, threatening Asami as she runs. She’s not sure what direction to travel, the only thought in her head being that she needs immediate shelter.

 

A small cave will do.

 

The engineer has to jump over a clan of bickering Spirits that resemble burrowing animals and ducks under lillypad trees that look as though they might be ripped up any second from the wind. A dark gray cyclone forms around a mountain a few miles away from her, and something tells Asami that she needs to get there.

 

Just making it inside the cave, she takes a deep breath and dives into her gear. She had prepared for anything. Slapping her work goggles on, she brings the scarf up to keep her face warm. A little rain won’t stop her.

 

“I’m coming for you, Korra.”

 

 

Dammit, why did the geography of the world seem to change every day with this storm? Korra desperately attempted to search for Iroh’s tea shop through the rain and the wind but found nothing.

 

At some point, she’d spotted Zaheer observing the typhoon and meditate away without offering to help her. So much for “aligned interests”. Others, too, had tried to come in. She’d seen them from the North and South poles attempting to visit. But the storm chased anyone coming in. And she’d caused it.

 

All she had wanted was to tell Asami she was sorry, and that she was leaving for a trip down to her parents and Katara for a month.

 

Then she had received a message from Furry Foot that she was needed, and she meditated into the Spirit World while waiting in Asami’s workshop. A dark spirit had been causing problems, some bastard called Mǐn Gāng playing with tourists emotions and using them to cause storms. He was absolutely ecstatic to play with hers when she had meditated in, using her broken heart to cause this storm.

 

“Find the light, dammit,” she mumbles to herself, attempting to focus and enter the Avatar State.

 

Mǐn Gāng floats by the mountain and teases her with a boulder that causes a loud crash, knocking her off focus. It’s as though he can read her mind every time she tries to do something. He lets out a cackle and floats away ever so slightly.

 

“You’re such a fun prisoner!”

 

“And you are literally the worst!” she calls back. “No one has ever heard of you in the mortal world, so I guess you’re just not important enough to be the enemy of an Avatar!”

 

His tail hits her square in the face for her words. She lets out a growl of frustration as the wind whips her hair around. The rain has a bite to it, and it offends Korra. If nothing else she is a waterbender, to be taunted like this is insulting.

 

The dark spirit floats up to her and makes various faces, none of them positive. One face cries, one roars with anger, the other reminds her of the way a villain smiles just before they try to murder her. It makes her particularly angry and the storm swells around her.

 

_Relax, stow your emotions away and feel nothing. Think of the way Tenzin taught you to medi―_

 

She expects another rock or branch to be thrown at her, but instead Mǐn Gāng desperately claws at her with purplish tendrils of energy. She panics a little until she realizes that something is pulling the Dark Spirit away from her. All she can see in the rain is a tall figure wearing a mask and goggles, holding an object that looks familiar. Where she has seen it escapes her grasp as Mǐn Gāng tumbles into it, looking like liquid being sucked up by a straw. He lets out a scream as the masked figure slams a cap on the object and seals him away.

 

The object bounces around with screams and shouts, and in all the commotion Korra observes the masked figure press a button on the side. It lights up the contents of the bottle with an electric shock _―_ it’s almost comical.

 

“So not bad for a first test. The filtration system could use some tweaks.”

 

She recognized that voice.

 

“A-Asami? Is that you?”

 

The goggles and mask come off, and sure enough her best friend is standing there in the rain and mud.

 

Even with Mǐn Gāng’s capture the storm does not subside. If anything, it seems to increase. Asami rushes to Korra and pulls her close. As she had meditated in, her form isn’t as solid as Asami’s, who seems to physically be here.

 

“I can’t believe it. You came to the Spirit World and you just captured a dark spirit… and you saved me,” Korra says over the noise.

 

“We need to get out of here!”

 

“I can’t. The storm is keeping me from meditating out.”

 

“I think it’s because you’re physically in danger. It’s triggered the Avatar State in the mortal world! We have to stop the storm! What’s causing it?” Asami asks.

 

A broken heart? The confusion and frustration of how her and Asami handled their issues? The fact that she wasn’t brave enough to tell the person who made her safe how much she meant? The storm shifted to hail, and it was obvious that it hurt Asami more than Korra. Just another thing she had done wrong. If she didn’t find the courage to admit what she’d done wrong, it would only hurt Asami even more.

 

“I’m sorry I was gone all that time. I’m sorry that I only wrote you one letter,” she whispered. “I meant to tell you after Varrick and Zhu Li’s wedding… it’s you. It’s always been you. I’m sorry that I hid my feelings even after what we talked about. I didn’t mean to fall in love with you but I can’t deny it. I think I fell in love with you when you made that sandsailer in the Si Wong and I've just been trying to figure out how to tell you since.”

 

Somehow Asami hears her through the commotion, looking at her with a strange, almost amused expression. Korra feels ready to give up just as lips press against her own.

 

Her heart beats like it's burning up after having been frozen solid. She sighs into Asami’s embrace and kisses back with everything she has. In all the nights she's spent with this woman, this kiss outshines it all. She will gladly endure any storm for this moment.

 

A hand cups her check, running along tiny scars here and there, and _instinctively_ , Korra leans into it.

 

“I love you, too,” Asami smiles, when they finally break apart.

 

She has always loved the way sunlight looks when it shines in those bright green eyes.

 

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You may have noticed that I took the piece (Return Me) that I'd started a few months ago and stuck it in this. I thought it would fit here and I was happier with the way it turned out in this fic. 
> 
> Sorry if there are some grammar mistakes here and there! I got this done in like 4 days!
> 
> Happy Korrasami Anniversary!
> 
> Art by Rootproxy! (Almost forgot that, my bad)


End file.
